Boot Disk (Windows 98 (SE))

Install

How can I use my Product Recovery CD on a VAIO without the original CD-ROM drive or with a third party CD-ROM drive?

Solution:

NOTES:

If you have a non European VAIO, pleasecontact the relevant help line(i.e. If you have a VAIO that was purchased in Japan, then you need to contact the Japanese help line).

When using a third party CD-ROM drive, you will need to take special steps to ensure the operation of the Recovery CD. Loss of the use of this CD will mean you can no longer do system recoveries or reinstall Windows. This could prove to be a serious inconvenience, even preventing you from using your computer.

You cannot assume that the recovery process will work just because the CD-ROM drive works in Windows 98. When using a third party CD-ROM drive, you may be able to use it in Windows, and even boot to the CD in DOS, but the absence of the correct DOS (real-mode) CD-ROM driver on the CD will prevent the software used in the system recovery process from working.

The best way to ensure that you will be able to use the Recovery CD after changing CD-ROM drives is to use a special bootable floppy disk that will permit your computer to access the features of the Recovery CD. This floppy disk can be obtained from VAIO LINK support, or by downloading it from our web site, but requires some work by you. It means you have to ask your vendor for the real-mode (DOS) driver for your CD-ROM. Editing this floppy disk is not difficult, but requires an understanding of DOS. We are unable to supply all possible CD-ROM drivers, so you will have to copy the correct driver and edit the system files using the following instructions:

Please, download the floppy disks of the following models from our web site.

505G

505FX

505E

C1

C1XN

C1XD

N505X

N505SN

N505SL

Z600RE

PROCEDURE OUTLINE:

If you downloaded the file from our web site, follow the next two steps, otherwise proceed with step B:

Create a system floppy disk (bootable under DOS).

Double-clickMy Computer, right click3½ Floppy (A:), and then clickFormat.

Select Format typeFulland Other optionsCopy system files, and then clickStart.

Extract the self extracting file on the floppy disk.

The procedure described below does two things:

It copies the real-mode CD-ROM driver provided by the manufacturer to the floppy disk.

It edits Config.sys on the floppy to change the real-mode CD-ROM device driver from the one provided by Sony to the new driver.

REM * These files are needed to load the Phoenix Card Manager *REM * To be able to use the PCMCIA Socket *DEVICEHIGH /L:1,1312 =a:\CNFIGNAM.EXE /DEFAULTDEVICEHIGH=a:\PCMSS.EXEDEVICEHIGH=a:\PCMCS95.EXEDEVICEHIGH=a:\PCMRMAN.SYS

REM * EXAMPLE FOR THE PRD-650 SONY DISCMAN *REM * This line is needed to load the PCMCIA SCSI Card driverDEVICEHIGH=a:\aspi2dos.sys /LREM * This line is needed to load the the Discman DriverDEVICEHIGH=a:\aspicd.sys /d:pcmciacd /type:sony